Swab making machine



g- 1941' s. M. GLICKSTON SWAB MAKING MACHINE Filed Dec. 31, 1938 6Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. J/Wua IM fu/msro/v ATTORNEY.

Aug. 26, 1941. s. M. GLICKSTON 2,253,852

SWAB MAKING MACHINE Filed Dec. 31, 1958 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENT OR.

J J/IMH hl. 01/ 'fJTO/V yw 1 ATTORNEY.

Aug. 26, 1941. s. M. GLICKSTON SWAB MAKING MACHINE Filed Dec. 31, 1958 6Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. J/wua w :ucmsm/v M ATTORNEY.

Aug. 26, 1941. s. M. GLICKSTON SWAB MAKING MACHINE 6 Sheets-Sheet 4Filed Dec. 31, 1938 H/% E: k m w v v INVENTOR.

JAM/EL w. flue/1s 70m ATTORNEY.

g- 1941- s. M. GLICKSTON 2,253,852

SWAB MAKING MACHINE Filed Dec. 51, 1938 e Sheets-Sheet s Aug. 26, 1941.s. M. GLICKSTON 2,253,852

SWAB MAKING MACHINE I Filed Dec-. 51, 1938 v 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 1 i l lINVENTOR.

/ JAMUEL W fiumsro/v BY M/ ATTORNEY.

Patented Aug. 26, 1941 SWAB MAKING MACHINE Samuel W. Giickston,Rockville Centre, N. Y., assignor to M. Mayer, New York, N. Y.

Application December 31, 1938, Serial No. 248,764

12 Claims.

2: The present invention relates to new and useful improvements inmachines for making medical swabs, and relates more particularly to anautomatic machine for winding a ribbon of cotton about the end of astick.

Medical swabs have been formed by hand since time immemorial and it isone of the principal objects of the present invention to provide anautomatic machine for making such swabs of far more uniform characterthan was possible by the hand method. A further object of the inventionis the provision of a machine which will form such swabs under sanitaryconditions.

Machines for making swabs of this general character have been devised.Such machines, however, for the most part merely form a wad or ball ofcotton on the end of the stick by means of moving a wad into the end ofa twirling stick, the terminal of the stick piercing the cotton and thusforming the wad. It is quite apparent that a far more satisfactory anduniform type of swab is possible if a thin, relatively fragile ribbon ofcotton is in effect held at its terminal to the stick and the ribbonthen wrapped therearound.

In my co-pending application Ser. No. 141,274, I have described anothermachine for making medical swabs of this general type. In this machine astick was moved into a recess in a shaper or former, the stick forcingthe terminal of a ribbon of cotton into the recess as the stick itselfpassed thereinto. The stick was then held immovable and the formerrotated a sufiicient number of times to securely wrap the ribbon ofcotton therearound. In the present machine, however,

the stick is automatically fed to a position be- 3 tween a pair offriction rollers which rotate the stick while a short length of cottonwhich has been suitably prepared into a fine ribbon, is wrappedtherearound. Means are also provided for appropriately stretching andflattening the cotton preparatory to applying it to the stick, which ishighly important, since the usual run of cotton ribbon variesconsiderably in texture and cross-sectional area. I

A further object of the invention is the provision of a machine forforming medical swabs which acts entirely automatically and withoutrequiring any human aid.

Yet another object of the invention is the provision of a novel packingmechanism which receives the finished swabs and successively packsscription when read in connection with the accompanying drawings,wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the machine which constitutes thepreferred embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a broken elevation of the opposite side 7 of the machine shownin Fig. 1;

the same into boxes in which the swabs are evenvention will be apparentfrom the following de- 22 to a vertical support 23.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the machine, certain portions thereofhaving been removed to show the operation of interior parts of themachine;

Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal section through a portion of themachine, the view showing certain details of thecotton preparing andsevering mechanism;

Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken through substantially the center ofthe shaper or former, the view showing the position of the strip ofcotton relative to the former Just prior to the movement of the stickinto the former;

Fig. 6 is similar to Fig. 5, and shows initial position of the stickafter it has entered the former and the initial position of the cottonrelative thereto;

Fig. 7 shows the position of the cotton relative to the stick after thelatter has been given approximately one revolution by the frictionrollers;

Fig. 8 shows the strip of cotton after the same has been substantiallycompletely wound about the stick;

Fig. 9 is a broken longitudinal vertical section showing details of thestick feeding, cotton winding and stick scoring mechanism;

Figs. 10 and 11 are broken longitudinal sections showing the details ofthe packing mechanism for the finished swabs;

Fig. 12 is a broken transverse vertical section taken on line |2l2 ofFig. 9; and

Fig. 13 is a broken transverse vertical section taken on line I3l3 ofFig. 9.

The cotton employed in the making of the swabs is a length of eitherround or substantially fiat material and is'generally known in the artas 20 to 25 gram stock" and is designated by the reference numeral 20.Inasmuch as each end of the swabs are tipped with the cotton in thepresent machine, two strands or webs of the cotton are employed, each ofwhich pass through tubes 2|, which are secured by means of brackets Thissupport is mounted at the outer terminals of a pair of spaced verticalframe members 24 which run the full length of the device as shown inFig. 1.

On each side of the frame members 24 and 38' (Fig. 2).

spaced therefrom are another pair of vertical frame members 21. Thelower edges of the members 21 rest upon the support for the entiredevice and a base plate 28 extends between the members 21 adjacent tothe lower edges thereof and is secured thereto by means of bolts 28passing through angle brackets 3|, such brackets also being secured tothe members 21.

On the upper edges of the vertical members 21 a plate 33 is mounted,such plate supporting the cotton preparing mechanism. This mechanismcomprises a pair of spaced angle members 35, the vertical portions ofwhich provide journals for a plurality of horizontal shafts 38, carryingrollers 38, through which the webs of cotton pass for the purpose ofstretching and flattening such cotton. The number of rollers isoptional, depending upon the nature of the cotton, four pairs ofvertically spaced rollers being shown for each of the two webs ofcotton.

In each pair of rollers (upper and lower) it is preferable to make onenon-smooth or knurled,

as shown at 39 in Fig. 3, and the other smooth.

The lower forward shaft 38' drives the other shafts 38 and is itselfdriven by means of an i idler 31 mounted on a stud 31 engaging asomewhat larger gear 40, keyed to the shaft In order to stretch thecotton to make it into a relatively thin ribbon, each successive shaft38, approaching the rear of the device is driven slower than thepreceding one and means for accomplishing this are shown in Figs.'2 and3. The driving gears 42, on the lower shafts 38 are made successivelylarger and each successive gear 42 engages an intermediate idler 43mounted on the studs, in order to cause each of the shafts 38 to rotatein the same direction. Viewed from the position shown in Fig. 2, thelower shafts 38 all rotate in a clockwise direction and in order tocause the upper shaft 38' to rotate in a counter-clockwise direction,gears 45 are mounted at the opposite ends of all the'shafts 38, eachlower gear driving its adjacent upper gear (Fig. 1).

The upper set of shafts 38 are journalled in bearing blocks 41 mountedin vertical slots 48, and these shafts are vertically adjustable inorder to vary the degree of compression of the cotton between therollers, the adjustment being accomplished by means of screws 48 mountedin r suitable threaded apertures in a cross plate on the upper edge ofeach vertical frame member 35.

Each web of cotton, while passing through the rollers 39, isappropriately stretched, flattened and is continuously fed over asupporting channel 53 and then passes between a pair of verticallyspaced intermittently movable gears 54, the teeth of which have beenfiled away sufficiently to provide a slight space therebetween as shownin Fig. 4. These gears are mounted on horizontal shafts 56, such shaftsbeing centrally split in order to facilitate their removal when thegears are to be changed. The lower split shaft 56 is driven by means ofa four stop Geneva movement, such shaft driving the upper shaft by meansof gears 51 as shown in Fig. 13. Since the lower shaft is driven on oneside only, the two aligned portions are connected by means of a sleeve58. The shafts 58 are journalled in the vertical portions of spacedangle members 6|,

' which are mounted on the plate 33, and lateral movement of the shaftsis prevented by means of collars 62.

For the sake of clearness, the means for driving the lower shaft 58, aswell as the other operative parts of the machine, will now be described,and the motion transmitted from such means will be traced step by stepto said shaft 56. A main drive shaft 84, provided with a fixed pulley85, a freely rotating pulley 66, and a fly wheel 81, is Journalled inthe opposed vertical frame members 21, which, as shown in Fig. 3, extendthe full length of the main operative portion of the machine. The beltfor driving the pulleys is shown in broken lines at 88. A gear 88 on thedrive shaft 84 drives a gear 83 mounted on another shaft ll immediatelythereabove (Figs. 2 and 3). Thus, gear 83 on the shaft II also engages agear H on the shaft 12. A gear I4 mounted at the opposite end of theshaft 12 drives an idler gear 15 which in turn drives a gear 16 mountedon a stud shaft which carries the driver 11 of the Geneva movement foroperating the shafts 56.

This Geneva movement is of the conventional type and the driver includesa concentric surface 19 and a roller 88 (Fig. 1). The driven member 8|on the lower shaft 58 is formed with four radial slots 82 positioned 90degrees apart, and the roller engages one of these slots each time itmakes a revolution, thus turning the driven shaft one-quarterrevolution. The concentric surface 18 engages the concave surface 84between each pair of slots before the driving roller is disengaged fromthe driven wheel, which prevents the latter from rotating while theroller is moving around to engage the next successive slot. 8

While the machine is in operation the shaft 12 is continuously rotating.The position of shaft 12 relative to shafts 58 is shown in Fig. 4 andthe shaft 12 carries a pair of continuously rotating rollers 88 andanother shaft 81 immediately therebeneath carries rollers 88. One rollerin each pair is desirably non-smooth and the other is smooth as in thecase of the cotton preparing rollers 39. The shaft 81 is driven by meansof interengaging gears 88 on the shafts l2 and 81. The diameters of theintermittently movable rollers 54 are such that one quarter revolutionpermits a suflicient length of cotton to pass therethrough during eachmovement to properly tip one swab. It will accordingly be appreciatedthat when these rollers cease their motion, the rollers 88 and 88,continuously revolving, sever the length of cotton from the web anddeliver it forward to a position to where the stick is applied thereto.Although the cotton as stretched and flattened has a small measure ofrigidity, there is nevertheless enough thrust due to the speed of therollers 86 and 88 to deliver the severed strip to the former without anyintermediate support being required.

The specific construction of the hopper for the sticks forms no part ofthe present invention and any one of several mechanisms may be employedfor successively delivering the sticks from the hopper to the frictionroller wherein they are carried to the cotton applying position. In anyevent, the hopper is mounted on the upper edges of the spaced verticalplates 6| and a horizontal plate 90 is mounted between the upper ends ofthe plates (Fig. 9). The latter plate is provided with a recess 9|within which a cylindrical stick carrying drum having spacedlongitudinal recesses 95' for the sticks S is positioned. The drum isintermittently rotated by suitable means and the forward end 92 of alever 93, plvotally mounted on a shaft 94, projects into a centrallydisposed, annular recess (not shown) in the stick carrying drum and asthe stick is carried to its lowest position by this drum, the forwardend 92 of the lever removes the stick-therefrom.

Rocking movement of this lever is accomplished by means of engagement ofa flat spring 98 secured to the rear of the lever 93 with a segmentalcam 91, mounted on a constantly rotating shaft 98. This shaft is causedto rotate in a counter-clockwise direction by means of a gear 99,mounted at one end thereof, such gear being engaged by a gear IOI,mounted at the outer end of the constantly rotating shaft 12 (Fig. 3). Acentral gear I03, adjacent to the cam 91, engages an idler I04 which inturn engages a gear I05, sandwiched between the two portions of afriction roller I00, made from rubber or other resilient material, thecombined friction rollers and central gear being freely mounted on theshaft 12. On each exterior surface of the friction roller I06, a metaldisc I08 is secured, such metal discs being of slightly lesser diameterthan that of the roller, and there is formed a transverse slot H2 in thediscs and in the roller, which receives the stick, such stick beingshown at S (Fig. 9) as it is about to enter such slot.

The operation of these parts is substantially as follows. Theintermittently movable stick carrying drum 95 brings a stick from thehopper, through an arcuate path as shown in Fig. 9. As the drumcontinues to rotate, the forward end 92 of the lever 93 moves into anupward position as shown in Fig. 9, and at this instant the face of thecam 91 engages the spring 96, thereby raising the rear end of the lever93 and lowering the forward end thereof. The stick is thus removed fromthe drum and as the lever descends, the stick drops into the recess I I2in the friction roller, which as previously stated, is continuouslyrotating.

The stick is shown at 8' just before entering the recess. The stick isprevented from falling from the recess during its arcuate movement bymeans of a curved guide plate III.

The stick ceases its arcuate movement at S" and the stick is rotated andthe cotton now applied in the following manner. The constantly rotatingshaft 1I carries a second friction roller H3, which is keyed thereto bymeans of a set screw H4, the roller having a resilient covering II5(Fig. 12). This second friction roller is only slightly spaced from thefirst roller, as shown in Fig. 9, and since both rollers are of the samesize and are rotating in the same direction at constant speed (the twomeeting surfaces of the rollers moving, of course, in oppositedirections), there is a tendency for the stick to stay in the positionindicated at S It is actually prevented from continuing its arcuatemovement, however, by means of the recessed shapers or formers H1, theshape of which is shown in detail in Figs. 5 to 8. Each former hascurved spaced inner walls H8 and H9, the Wall H9 having a somewhatgreater depth than the wall I I8. A general top plan view of thisopening in the former is shown in the right hand former assembly in Fig.12.

Four of such formers are carried on each side of the friction roller H3,and the entire roller assembly, which is intermittently driven throughan arc of 90 degrees, is shown in detail in Fig. 12. A collar I22 issecured vto the shaft H by means of a set screw I23. support I24 isfreely mounted for rotative movement on the fixed collar I22, ballbearing I25 being positioned therebetween. Each former H1 is securedtothe collar I24 in its equally spaced relation, by means of a screwI21. At the opposite end of the collar I 24 a four stop driven Genevaelement I is secured.

The driver for this element is shown at I32 in Fig. 9, and is keyed tothe constantly rotating main drive shaft 64 and includes a concentricsurface I33 and a driving roller I34. Thus, as the driver rotates, itintermittently moves the former support or collar I24 through arcs of 90degrees and successively positions the individual formers at a pointjust above the point of substantial meeting of the two friction rollersI06 and H3. The formers are mounted on the support in such a manner thattheir inner walls are substantially radially disposed relative to thecenter of the shaft 1 I.

The stick S, which is positioned within the transverse recess H2 in thefriction wheel I06, is brought through its arcuate path to the positionshown at S (Fig. 9). The cotton feeding and severing mechanism has, justprior to this, severed a ribbon of cotton from the web and has deliveredit to a position relative to the former which is shown in Fig. 5. Oncethe cotton is there, the stick descends, following the course shown bythe arrow in Fig. 6, thus forcing the forward end of the ribbon into theformer. Rotation of the stick commences immediately since the frictionrollers I06 and H3 are constantly rotating. By the time the rollers havemade one complete revolution, the stick has been rotated many times andthe swab is now formed.

The Geneva driver again advances the former assembly, carrying thefinished swab, through an arc of 90 degrees to the stick scoringmechanism. This includes a shaft I31 which is also journalled in thevertical frame members 21 and is driven constantly by means of the gear10 on the shaft 1I, an intermediate idler I38 engaging a gear I39 on theshaft I31. The scoring is performed by means of a cutter comprising ametal disc I4I having a cutting portion I42 and a flat portion I43. Thedisc is positioned between two portions of a third friction roller Iwhich, together with the disc MI, is keyed to the shaft I31. Thisfriction roller has a slightly larger diameter than the metal disc,except for the cutting portion I42. A curved guide plate I41 preventsthe swab from leaving the former during its movement to the cutter.Adjacent to the fiat portion I43 of the disc the roller I45 is also flatto permit the stick to be moved into and out of the position between thefriction rollers shown in Fig. 9. Continued rotation of the rollerscauses the stick to rotate, the cotton tipped ends still being withinthe two opposed formers, and as the roller I45 finishes its completerevolution the knife portion lightly makes an annular scoring, notsufiicient to materially weaken the stick, but merely enough to cause aclean break when the stick is manually severed.

Another operation of the Geneva driver brings the completed swab down tothe point indicated as S The following automatic means are provided forejecting the swab from the formers at this point, and for causing it tofall into the container in which it is eventually marketed.

Another collar or annular.

Angles I50 are mounted adjacent to the upper edges of the vertical framemembers 24 (Fig. 12) the horizontal portions of which act as slidewaysfor opposite sides of small boxes I5I of suillcient height to receiveone layer of the finished swabs. A plate I52 may be secured by screws tothe upper surface of the frame members. The boxes are intermittentlymoved as the swabs are fed thereinto by means of an endless conveyorchain I53 mounted between sprockets I5l. At suitably spaced intervals,carrier lugs I55-are mounted on links of the chain, such lugs alsosupportingthe boxes as shown in Fig. 9.

I66. A lever I61 is eccentrically secured at one end to the opposite armI69 of the bell crank and the other end of this lever is eccentricallysecured to the constantly rotating gear 63.

Thus the levers I61 and I63 are constantly reciprocating, the latterdriving the conveyor chain I53 and the former driving a pair of spacedfingers I mounted on a pair of supports I1I, keyed to the shaft I66, thesupports having a crosspiece I12 therebetween. The swabs are removedfrom the formers by means of a vertical finger I15, the upper end ofwhich is only slightly spaced from the friction roller H3. The swab thusfalls to the position shown at S in Fig. 9, where its downward movementis arrested by means of a fiat spring I16 urging the swab in thedirection of the finger I15. At this time the two spaced fingers I10begin to descend, thus pushing the swab evenly downward as shown at S inFig. 10. Further downward movement positions the swab in the box I5Iadjacent to the one which has just preceded it.

If desired, the swabs may be medicated after they are formed and anyconventional means may be employed to cause drops of an antisepticsolution upon the swabs. Also, a suitable adhesive, which may, ifpreferred, be antiseptic in character, can be applied to the ends of thesticks before the cotton is wrapped therearound. Fig. 12 shows drops ofsuch adhesive descending upon the stick.

While I have described what I consider to be a highly desirableembodiment of my invention, it is obvious that many changes in formcould be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Forinstance, the present machine is adapted to form the swab over each endof the stick, although in some instances, particularly wherein a longerstick is required, the machine may be slightly modified in order to formthe swab over one end only. It will also be apparent that the cottonpreparing and conditioning rollers might in some instances be eliminatedentirely, particularly in the event that it should become possible tosecure cotton of the proper fineness and textures It will further beobvious that the swab withdrawing and packing mechanism could beemployed in connection with machines other than the swab making machinedescribed in the instant application.

What I claim is:

l. A swab making machine comprising a shaper having a recess therein,means for successively positioning lengths of cotton or the likeadjacent to said recess, means for successively causing sticks to engagethe cotton and move both into the recess, means for rotating the stickwhile so positioned, thus winding the cotton about the stickfafid meansfor discharging the stick with the cotton thereon from the recess in theshaper.

2. A swab making machine comprising a shaper having a recess therein,means for successively positioning lengths of cotton or the likeadjacent to said recess, means for successively causing sticks to engagethe cotton and move both into the recess, means for rotating the stickwhile so positioned, thus winding the cotton about the stick, and meansfor transporting such sticks into a container, said means comprising amovable support for the shaper, means for moving the support into adischarging position after the swab has been formed on the stick, meansfor withdrawing the stick from the shaper when in discharging position,causing the same to fall into the container and an intermittentlymovable conveyor supporting the container.

3. A machine for making swabs comprising a pair of friction rollers,means for positioning a stick between such friction rollers to cause thesame to rotate and means for wrapping a ribbon of cotton or the likeabout the terminal of the stick, said means comprising a shaper having arecess therein, means for positioning said length of cotton adjacent tothe recess, the shaper being so positioned relative to the frictionrollers as to cause the terminal of the stick to move into, and positionthe cotton within, the recess as the stick is moved into operativeposition relative to the rollers.

4. A swab making machine comprising a shaper having a recess therein,means for feeding the terminal of a web of cotton beyond the recess andmeans for severing the cotton from the web, means for grasping andtransporting a stick, causing it to engage the cotton and move bothcotton and stick into such recess, and means for rotating the stickwhile so positioned, thus wrapping the cotton about the end of thestick, and means for discharging the swab from the shaper.

5. A swab making machine comprising a shaper having an elongated recesstherein, means for feeding the terminal of a web of flattened cottonbeyond the recess and means for severing the cotton from. the web, meansfor grasping and transporting a stick, causing it to engage the cottonadjacent to its forward terminal and move both cotton and stick intosuch recess, and means comprising a pair of friction rollers forrotating the stick while so positioned, thus wrapping the cotton aboutthe end of the stick, and means for discharging the swab from the recessand depositing the same in a container.

6. A swab making machine comprising a shaper having an elongated recesstherein, means for feeding the terminal of a web of flattened cottonbeyond the recess and means for severing the cotton from the web, saidlatter means comprising a pair of feeding rollers and means adjacent tothe feeding rollers for intermittently gripping the cotton to causeseverance thereof, means for grasping and transporting a stick, causingit to engage the cotton adjacent to its forward terminal and move cottonand stick into such recess, and means comprising a pair of frictionrollers for rotating the stick while so positioned, thus wrapping thecotton about the end of the stick, means for scoring the stickintermediate its ends and means for discharging the swab from the recessand depositing the same ina container and a conveyor for impartingintermittent movement to the container as the successive swabs aredeposited therein.

7. A machine for making medical swabs comprising, in combination, cottonconditioning and severing means, stick delivering and stick rotatingmeans and means for discharging and packing the completed swabs incontainers, said conditioning means comprising a plurality of spacedpairs of rollers between which a web of cotton is adapted to pass toflatten the same, the forward pair of rollers rotating further than thenext succeeding pair for the purpose of stretching the same, thesevering means comprising a pair of constantly rotating rollers and apair of intermittently rotating rollers to the rear of the formerrollers, a suitable length of cotton being severed when the latterrollers cease rotation, a rotatable supportandapluralityof recessedshapers mounted on said support, means for grasping and transporting astick and moving the terminals thereof as well as the severed cottoninto the recess in a shaper, a pair of friction rollers for rotating thestick while in such recess, thereby forming the swab.

8. A machine for making medical swabs comprising a shaper having arecess therein, means for forming a web of cotton into a flattened,attenuated ribbon comprising a plurality of pairs of rollers revolvingat different speeds and through which the cotton is fed, means fordelivering a severed length of such ribbon to a position wherein aportion thereof overlies said recess, such means comprising a pair ofintermittently revolving rollers and a pair of continuously revolvingrollers in advance thereof, and through which the cotton is fed, meansfor transporting a stick and moving a terminal thereof into engagementwith said ribbon and into the recess, means for revolving the stickwhile its terminal and the ribbon are positioned within the recess, thuswinding the ribbon about the terminal to form a swab end, and means fordischarging the finished swab from the recess.

9. A machine for making medical swabs comprising a shaper having alongitudinal recess therein, such recess conforming in cross sectionalarea to the shape of the finished swab, means for forming a web ofcotton into a flattened, attenuated ribbon, means for delivering asevered length of such ribbon to a position wherein a portion thereofoverlies said recess, means for transporting a stick and moving aterminal thereof into engagement with said ribbon and into the recess,

means comprising a pair of friction rollers revolving in the samedirection for revolving the stick while its terminal and the ribbon arepositioned within the recess, thus winding the ribbon about the terminalto form a swab end, and means for discharging the finished swab from therecess.

10. A machine for making medical swabs comprising a shaper having arecess therein, means for forming a web of cotton into a flattened,attenuated ribbon, means for delivering a severed length of such ribbonto a position wherein a-portion thereof overlies said recess, means fortransporting a stick and moving a terminal thereof into engagement withsaid ribbon and into the recess,

means for revolving the stick while its terminal length of such ribbonto a position wherein a portion thereof overlies said recess, means fortransporting a stick and moving a terminal thereof into engagement withsaid ribbon and into the recess, means for revolving the stick while itsterminals and the ribbon are positioned within the recess, thus windingthe ribbon about the terminal to form a swab end, a conveyor positionedunder the shaper, means on the conveyor for supporting a plurality ofcontainers, means for imparting intermittent step by step motion to theconveyor, means for withdrawing the swab from the shaper and means forguiding the swab in its movement from the shaper to the container.

12. A machine for forming a swab about each end of a stick comprising apair of shapers having recesses therein, means for forming webs ofcotton into flattened, attenuated ribbons, means for delivering severedlengths of such ribbons to a position wherein a portion thereof overliessaid recesses, means for transporting a stick and moving the terminalsthereof into engagement with said ribbons and into the recesses, meansfor revolving the stick while its terminals and the ribbons arepositioned within the recesses, thus winding the ribbons about theterminals to form a swab end, and means for discharging the finishedswab from the recesses.

SAMUEL W. GLICKSTON.

